Commitment

The Research School of Chemistry is committed to ensure the safety of its staff, students and visitors.

For their own sakes, and in their own interests, all staff and students are required to observe the ANU Procedures and Policies and RSC safety Regulations. The ANU principles of this commitment are defined in the ANU Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy.

Incidents, Near-misses, and Hazards

All incidents, near-misses and hazards must be reported (a) to your direct supervisor, and (b) to ANU's incident reporting system Figtree. Certain incidents have to be reported to Comcare (find out which ones using this Comcare flowchart). In those cases it is critical to preserve the incident site until Comcare has provided clearance.

People who do not have access to Figtree can use this incident reporting form and email it to ohsincidents@anu.edu.au.

After-hours login

RSC staff and students must sign in outside business hours (Mo-Fr, 8:00-18:00) when entering or remaining in the building, independent of the kind of work that is being done.

Visitors must at any time and must be accompanied by RSC staff at all times unless inducted into the building to the appropriate level.

Signing in is done via the tablet freely available in the foyer of building 137.

Safety Alerts and Safety News

Please read the latest RSC and ANU safety alerts.

• Updated ANU Training Needs Matrix released Feb. 2019 (TD Feb. 2020)
• Poor air quality in Canberra due to fires (PDF, Review 01/02/2020)
• Fire Hazard From Drying Ovens (TD 20/04/2019)
• Incident Reporting System FIGTREE now accessible to students (PDF, TD 01/05/2019)
• No laboratory waste to go down the sinks (PDF, TD 01/05/2019)
• Bicycle accidents and near misses on ANU campus (PDF, TD 01/11/2019)
• APRANSA Radiation Audit Report March 2019 (Webpage linking to DOC, TD 01/01/2020)
• Importation of radioactive materials (PDF, TD 01/07/2019)
• Importation of chemicals from overseas - potential delays (PDF, TD 01/09/2019)
• Importation of chemicals - chemicals without compliant SDS available on arrival not released from RSC store from 1 July 2019 (PPT, 2.9 MB)
• ANU Work Health and Safety Management System (WHSMS) Handbook released (TD 19/02/2020)

ANU Policies and Procedures

• Our duties at ANU (Directors, Mangers, Students, Staff, Contractors, Visitors)
• ANU Policies, procedures, and guidelines
• ANU Work Health and Safety (WHS) web page
• ANU Chemical Handbook(PDF, ANU resource)

RSC Policies and Procedures

• RSC safety regulations (PDF, 1.7 MB)
• RSC Safety induction presentation (PDF, updated 05/09/2018)
• RSC Risk Register (PDF, updated 21/03/2019)
• RSC Equipment Purchase Procedure and pre-purchase risk assessment (PDF, updated March 2019)
• RSC static risk assessment register (readable live EXCEL on Sharepoint; requires login with u-number)
• RSC Asbestos Register (PDF, permanent document)

Templates

• Door sign for labs and instrument rooms (WORD template, ver Oct 2019)
• Fridge/Freezer door sign  (WORD template, ver Nov. 2018)
• Fume cupboard allocation in labs (WORD template, ver. Nov. 2018)
• Label template aqueous waste (acidic)
• Label template aqueous waste (basic)
• Label template aqueous waste (neutral)

Legislation and Standards

• Training/Information Document on GHS (PDF, 10.9 MB; SafeWork Australia)
• The overarching pieces of Commonwealth WHS legislation are the WHS Act 2011 and the WHS Regulations 2011.
• Approved Codes of Practice (web link to PDF files)
• Australian Standards (via ANU library; choose "Australian Standards"; ISIS/HORUS password required from outside ANU)
• Australian Dangerous Goods (ADG) Code

RSC emergency response

• RSC Emergency Plan
• RSC First Aid Officers and facilities (list, PDF, 0.7 MB)
• RSC First Aid Facilities (map, PDF, 1.2 MB)
• RSC Emergency Response Team (ERT) (PDF, 0.5 MB; Apr. 2019)
• Emergency exits and external isolation points (PDF, 254 KB)
• Automatic External Defibrillators on the ANU Campus (map, link updated 27/03/2019)
• ANU Emergency Flip Chart (PDF, 1.7 MB; Nov. 2016)
• Technical Officers (Training and Supervision) (PDF, Mar. 2018)

RSC WHS Committee

The RSC WHS Committee (formerly Advisory Committee on Safety; ACS) is composed of the RSC Director, RSC School Manager, RSC WHS Manager, and a number of staff and student representatives from a variety of work areas across the RSC (e.g. academia, chemical research, biochemical research, workshops, students, postdocs, teaching). A minimum of 4 meetings are held each year, and everyone at the RSC is encouraged to raise safety related issues with the Committee.

• RSC WHS Committee members (updated 10/12/2019)
• Minutes of the Committee meetings can be found on the RSC intranet, ANU's WHS page on local WHS committees, and on the safety noticeboard in the foyer of building 137.
• RSC WHS Committee charter.
• RSC Corrective Action log (read-only link to live EXCEL, updated 10/12/2019)

Training

• ANU Training Catalogue (inlcuding WHS courses)
• ANU Training Needs Matrix 2019 (link to ANU WHS web page, 19/02/2019)
• Mandatory RSC Training Needs Assessment (online form - each RSC worker is to fill this out in discussion with their supervisor)
• ANU online safety courses launch/sign-up info (PDF; TD 02/06/2019)
• RSC Building Induction dates can be found under RSC Events.
• Info session on required ANU training was held on 17/05/2019 (PPTX download, TD 01/08/2019)
• Info session on imported chemicals at RSC was held on 19/06/2019 (PPTX download, TD 01/09/2019)
• BOC compressed gas and cryogenics handling course on 24/25 July 2019.

Chemwatch and Chemical Inventory

The Chemical Management System (CMS) has been implemented at the ANU in 2016 and includes a database for Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and an inventory of chemicals stored at the RSC and ANU. Link to CMS log-in: http://jr.chemwatch.net. Please use your u-number and HORUS/ISIS password to log in.

The RSC CMS team have developed this user guide document with tailored instructions and tips. 

Info sessions on RSC's chemical purchasing process, CMS data cleaning, SDS requirements and a few other topics were held in 2019. The slides can be found here: Power Point, or PDF.

If you would like to request the translation of a SDS from overseas to Australian requirements, fill out this SDS Translation Template and send it to CMS.RSC@anu.edu.au.

If you would like to request the generation of containers within ChemWatch in bulk, use this container generation template and send it to CMS.RSC@anu.edu.au.

List of time sensitive chermicals and chemicals that require licences. Whenever checking your chemicals/inventory or placing orders, consider the shelf life.

Useful information and guidance material around the CMS (e.g. deleting/adding containers, stocktake, manuals) provided by ANU. RSC specific inquiries and requests regarding the CMS should be emailed to CMS.RSC@anu.edu.au 

The CMS replaced the former Chemical Inventory System (CIS), which was phased out in 2017.